Drying apparatus



(No Model.)

S. G. PHILLIPS.

DRYING APPARATUS.

No. 245,742. Patented Aug 16,1881.

- gine or other convenient power.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SIMEON G. PHILLIPS, OF PERTH AMBOY, NEW JERSEY.

DRYING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Fatent No. 245,742, dated August16, 1881.

Application area May 10,1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SIMEON G. PHILLIPS, of Perth Amboy, in Middlesexcoun ty-aud State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Drying Apparatus, of which the following is aspecification:

The object of my invention isto dry unburned pottery, potters clay, orother clay, after it has been refined or washed to free it fromimpurities, and has had the main portion of the water removed bypressure. The clay comes from the presses in sheets of nearly uniformthickness-say from one-h altinch to oneinchand the sheets are rolled up,forming looselyrolled bundles a little larger than a gentlemans hat. Myinvention provides open-work shelves. on which these areintroducedthrough side doors into a current of air, with peculiar provisions forcirculating and warming the air. The apparatus is divided into sections,both vertically and longitudinally; the air moves lhroughhorizontally.Thewarmingiseii'ected successively at different points as the air movesthrough the apparatus. The circulation is induced by a blower placedmidway between the sections.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification, andrepresent what I consider the best means of carrying out the invention.

Figure I is a vertical longitudinal section of my apparatus. Fig. 2 is across-section. Fig. 3 is an elevation of one end. Fig. 4 is a face viewof the screw-wheel.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.

A is a stationary casing, which may be thirty feet long, six feet high,and four feet wide. It is dividedhorizontall y by a series of separatelymovable shelves,B, which are slatted to allow thefree circulation of theair upward and downward past the shelves, if required. It is alsodivided vertically into two main sections with a shorter intermediatesection, which latter contains a screw-wheel, O, of large area, mountedin a corresponding circular openlng,

A, and driven by a belt, I), from a steam-em (Not represented.) Eachsection is further dividedinto sub-sections.

The slatted or open-work shelves B are each large enough to extendnearly or quite across the apparatus. Each shelf is of the. properlength to match its sub-section of the casing A. It is supported onledges at each side, and is free to be drawn partly out to facilitatethe removal of the dried rolls of clay and the introduction of freshones.

A are doors turning on hinges, and provided with suitable means (notshown) for holding any one or more open while the shelves or the rollsof clay thereon are removed and replaced.

G G G: G G are coils or zigzags of steampipe supplied from a boiler,(not represented,) with liberal provisions for conducting away the waterof condensation. I do not deem it necessary to represent theseprovisions in detail. Any of the approved arrangements for steam-heatingbuildings may suffice. The air enters at oiie'end o f'the apparatus andemerges att-he other, asindicated by the arrows in Fig.1.

I attach importance to the fact that theh eat in g-pipes are adjustedalong the route ot the air. When the air enters it is relatively dry,and a small amount of warming gives it efficiency. As it proceeds andtakes up moisture the temperature is increased by passing the successiveheating-pipes. The effect is to dry uniformly in all the severalsections.

In conducting the business actively some one of the doors A will be openmuch of the time. My arrangement of the blower not only moves the airalong properly while all the doors are shut, but also insures that theaction in one part of the apparatus shall not be disturbed by theopening of a door in the other part. The blower, arranged as shown, alsoagitates the air, and causes it to circulate eifectually through theseveral small spaces in theapparatus and between the several coils ofthe clay.

I I are slides which may be drawn out and adjusted in various positionsto control the entrance of the air in the several parts of the enteringend. These are more especially useful when only the upper shelf orotherlimited portion of the apparatus is in use; but the slides maybe ofsome value any time to compel the air to circulate in all the corners.The discharge-orifice, instead of being in one large door in the entirelower portion of the apparatus, may be similarly divided into sectionsby separately adjustable slides, if desired.

Modifications may be made in the proportions. A greater or less numberof the sections and a greater or less number of shelves may be used. Theair should be free to enter uniformly the whole area of the end of theapparatus. It may be discharged in a corresponding manner at the exitend; but I prefer to discharge it at the bottom, as shown. retention ofthe warmest and most eilicient air, and causes it to act efficientlyuntilit has been loaded with dampness and cooled down to allow itsdescent.

When an entire building is available to be used as a drying-house butlittle alteration is needed, if itis already divided by partitions intotwo or more sections connected by doors. A proper circular opening beingmade in the lower portion of each partition, and a proper screw-wheelanalogous to a screw-propeller or windmillof proper size being mountedtherein and actively turned, and the proper amount of heating-pipe beingarranged in each room and supplied with steam, the shelves may bearranged in any manner most conveniently accessible. The air will, as inthe other forms of the apparatus, be warmed gradually and dry withapproximate uniformity all the clay or ware, and any number of doors orwindows may be opened and closed in any room without affecting thecurrent of air through the others.

Although my experiments have been directed mainly to the drying of claywhich has been washed and rolled,as described, I esteem it an importantuse of my invention to dry the pottery-ware after itlias been shaped andbefore it is baked. Ware in this condition, especially some qualities,is liable to check or develop in- .cipient cracks, if the drying ishastened. My

This insures the- First, by reason of the fact that the air-impellingdevice (J is mounted in the partition A at the mid-length of theapparatus and in the lower part thereof, I insure that the hottest airis retained longest in the first and second sections, and only allowedto move onward as it gets cooler; andfurther, and especially, that themotion of the air in the first half of the apparatus is not afl'ect'edby the opening of the doors to change the material in the last half,and, conversely, that the motion of the airin the last half is notaffected by the opening of doors in the first half.

Second, the arrangement of the steam-coils G G G2 G G at differentpoints along the apparatus insures that a higher heat shall be impartedto the damper air in the last part of its course, so as to make allparts. about equally eificient; and further, and especially, it allowsall parts of the apparatus to work to a large extent independently ofthe other partsthatis to say, the opening of doors in one section toremove the dried material and insert new, by letting in and out the airat that point, does not prevent an efficient drying action in any of theother sections.

1 claim as my invention- 1. In a drying apparatus having a casing, A,with a series of doors, A and shelves B, ar-

ranged as shown, the blower-wheel 0, arranged in the lower part of themid-length ot' the ap paratus, as and for the purposes specified.

2. In a drying apparatus having a series of doors, A and blowing means(3, the warmingcoils G G Gr' 'Gr G combined and arranged to serve as andfor the purposes herein specified.

In testimony whereot'l have hereunto set my hand, at New York, N. Y.,this 3d day of May, 1881, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' SIMEON G. PHILLIPS.

Witnesses:

WM. 0. DEY, M. F. BOYLE.

